Editorial pubs.acs.org/IECR
Preface for John P. Congalidis Memorial Special Issue
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John then went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts to pursue a Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering. He conducted his Ph.D. research under the supervision of Christos Georgakis. In 1981, he received his Ph.D. degree with a dissertation entitled, “Ignition and Extinction Characteristics of Atmospheric Fluidized Bed Coal Combustors”. John then joined the Modeling Group of the Polymer Products Department at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. John worked on the development of mathematical models for DuPont processes, including solution and emulsion polymerization reactors to guide pilot plant implementation and solve yield, capacity, and process control problems. John was then transferred to the Chambers Works in New Jersey in 1988, where he worked on the design and implementation of advanced process control strategies for a polymer product manufacturing facility and performed process and production assistance. After working at the Chambers Works, John was transferred to Geneva, Switzerland in 1992, where he worked as the Leader of a European R&D group focusing on improving manufacturing productivity of DuPont European plants by developing and applying process science and technologies. In the following years, John received three DuPont Engineering Excellence Awards. In 1999, John returned from Geneva to the Experimental Station, where he
his special issue honors the late John Peter Congalidis for his invaluable contributions to the fields of Chemical Engineering and Polymer Engineering. The Chemical Engineering and Polymer Engineering communities lost one of its great members when John P. Congalidis, Ph.D., passed away at the age of 59 on Thursday, January 17, 2013 due to cancer. Known for his integrity, sincerity, dedication, respectful and generous nature, and unselfish service to his professional community, John was well-liked and well-respected by the Process Systems Engineering and Polymer Engineering communities and his colleagues at DuPont. At the time of his death, he was a Senior Research Planning Fellow at DuPont. A pioneer in the area of polymerization reactor modeling at DuPont, author of 11 book chapters and conference proceedings and 13 refereed journal articles on polymerization reactor modeling, control and optimization, John had a significant impact on the industrial application of modern techniques in polymerization reactor modeling, control, and optimization. John was born in 1953. He grew up and attended schools in Athens, Greece. John entered the National Technical University (NTU) of Athens in 1971, where he won several prizes for scholarship, including the 1975 prize awarded annually to the undergraduate who ranked first among all students of the NTU. He graduated with a Diploma in Chemical Engineering with Highest Honors from the NTU in 1976. He also held summer jobs at British Petroleum Research Center in the United Kingdom and the Nuclear Research Center in West Germany. © 2014 American Chemical Society
Special Issue: John Congalidis Memorial Published: May 7, 2014 7273
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie5016552 | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2014, 53, 7273−7274
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
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became a Six Sigma Master Black Belt and worked on Six Sigma projects and taught classes. In 2005, he became a Research Planning Fellow, and in 2012, he became a Senior Research Planning Fellow in Central Research and Development, where he was responsible for research portfolio strategy development and for program budget and milestone management for the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division. John was very active in dedicatedly providing service to the Chemical Engineering and Polymer Engineering communities. In addition to organizing sessions on polymerization modeling and control at numerous American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) conferences, Polymer Reaction Engineering conferences, and American Control Conferences, in 2010, John was selected and served as the Program Coordinator for Area 10B Systems and Process Control of the Computing and Systems Technology Division of AIChE. He was then elected as a director of the CAST Division in 2011 and as a Fellow of the AIChE in 2012. He and John R. Richards jointly received the CAST Division Computing Practice Award in 2012. John P. Congalidis will be sorely missed by his colleagues, both in industry and academia.
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John R. Richards* Masoud Soroush Christos Georgakis AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected] Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest. Views expressed in this editorial are those of the authors and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie5016552 | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2014, 53, 7273−7274
